Relations between self-pluralism and identity

A focus on plural identities

Abstract

In modern society, the context to which youth belongs has become more diversified and the roles that young people play are also diversifying. Further, the modern society makes it difficult to form a singular identity. The identity of “plural identities” has been proposed as a form of identity adapted by modern society. This study considered the identity formation methods undertaken by modern youth, focusing on plural identities.

In the first study, we first classified youth identity into the following three types—single identity, plural identity, and identity diffusion. Further, in our second study, interviews were conducted to examine the varying characteristics of the three identities. A young man, who was categorized as having a single identity required to choose whether or not to present himself in any given situation, depending on the friendliness and acceptance of the person he was facing. However, youth classified as having multiple identities were able to alter themselves according to the social demands placed on them, and they formed different identities for each scene.